Hello! Remember me? Since we last spoke, I released my third book, “I Won The Internet!” which is available now on sites like Amazon.com. I took a break after the release of the book to do some promotion and also to get my nervous system back. For 5 years, I’ve been going out pretty much 7 nights a week in search of letting you all know the best art and music you should focus your energies on. To this day, there is not another website on the internet that has ever done the things I have done – experiencing, photographing and writing about all the content that appears on their site. It’s really sad to me that the world isn’t any the wiser as they continue to read sites written by people who rip off and re purpose content off the web and try pass it off as their own, but that is not my problem – it’s yours for supporting it! Readers have kindly been nudging me to return to this site for a few months and the love has been overwhelming. I thank you kindly for your love and support. You shouldn’t consider this my full return to According2g.com, but I will try pop in from time to time and let you know what’s up. You can also follow me on Instagram or Twitter @according2g for updates.

What better way to kick things off than with one of my favorite love-to-hate subjects – Madonna. I’ve been a fan of her since the beginning of her career and to her death, I will probably always be interested in what she’s up to. What I despise about her is that she has never lived a “practice what you preach existence,” and pretty much anyone that has been around her that has not signed a non-disclosure agreement rarely has a nice thing to say about her. It’s a shame since she is always singing about love and peace, but it fascinates me that people (myself included) continue to be captivated by someone whose only care for you is how she can carefully take your money. If you think that sentence is egregious in any way, you are in serious denial and you need help.

Regardless, I go into all of her albums with an open mind, because I will not lie, when her music ‘does it’ for me, it makes my world a happier place and I will always be grateful for that, and this new album has those moments from time to time, although fleeting. Her 13th studio album “Rebel Heart” has been a disaster since before the album even had a title. In December 2014, before the record even had a release date or a title, 13 songs in perfect quality, but in demo form, leaked to the internet in full. To try and do some damage control, Madonna oh so kindly, finished up 6 tracks and let people who pre-ordered the album have those songs instantly. She called it her Christmas present to fans. Insulting since her real fans (the people still interested in supporting her career) downloaded the songs for free days before (deny it all you want, but you and I both know that is the truth – not just for her but for any veteran act), but I digress…. In the interim, she announced the full album would be 19 songs long (except for a 26 song deluxe edition) and would be released in March of 2015. Before the end of 2014, an additional 19 songs leaked in full, so the grand total of songs that were “out there for free” at this point was 32. Madonna’s PR team went on a manhunt to find the person that hacked into her computer and released these songs into the wild and a person was captured. Leaks over, right? Not! A few days later, the finished version of the deluxe edition (25 songs) leaked onto the internet in perfect quality. And before the official release of the album, an additional few songs leaked, bringing the grand total number of tracks (including multiple different versions of certain tracks) to over 50! Makes you wonder – was the leak a publicity stunt? Is she having trouble with her mega-deal and she wants out? Rarely any information “officially released” these days is the truth, and so many of her fans are sheep that actually believe she’s a kind hearted person, so we may never know the truth.

It’s a good time to be a fan because there is certainly a lot of material to choose from and some of it is her best work in over a decade. Whoever sequenced the album and chose certain producers did a really crappy job as many of the demos were great and subsequently ruined by over (or under) production. Also many great songs were scrapped from the official release in favor of much worse songs. She’s been pulling the ageism card in interviews to try and gain sympathy and attention for the album, and to some extent she is right – the world caters to the youth and that sucks – but awesomeness always rises to the top. Frankly I think, Madonna looks amazing “for her age” (since she went there). Her plastic surgery doesn’t look as scary as it used to and she works out so much, she has a really great body. I am not really sure if I enjoy seeing her put her tits and pussy on display anymore, but sex sells and that’s always been part of the winning formula for Madonna, so why stop now?

After the jump, see my brief track by track review, as I try and make some sense out of this mess.

It has been 27 years since Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins has performed his classic songs, and as a huge fan of Thompson Twins, I am still in disbelief (and gratitude) that I can finally say that I’ve seen Tom Bailey perform! Headlining the Retro Futura Tour, which included sets from 1980s music titans Katrina and the Waves, China Crisis, Midge Ure and Howard Jones, Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins paid that long awaited visit to the New York stage at Best Buy Theater on August 21, 2014. Looking and sounding great, Tom played for about an hour and we were treated to the first live performances of nine classic Thompson Twins songs in almost three decades! It was worth the wait as Tom played “Lies,” “Hold Me Now,” “You Take Me Up,” “Doctor! Doctor” “”King For A Day” (in a new, slower arrangement), “Love on Your Side,” “Sister of Mercy,” “If You Were Here” and the hit that started it all, “In The Name Of Love,” which you are about to see a video of. The intro, if you will, was an instrumental snatch from another classic, “We Are Detective,” and the show certainly whet our appetites for more live appearances from Tom Bailey as there was not time to hear classic songs such as “The Gap,” “Nothing In Common,” “Don’t Mess With Doctor Dream,” “Get That Love,” “Watching,” “Lay Your Hands on Me,” or anything from the two under-rated 1990s Thompson Twins albums “Big Trash” and “Queer.” I met Tom and I asked if he was going to be coming back and he said he was uncertain, so please make sure you support this tour so we don’t have to wait another 27 years to see Tom Bailey perform!

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey According2g.com readers! I know it’s been a minute since we’ve seen each other. I’ve been exploring other projects and I’ll be sharing the details of my latest book (or how I spent my summer break) very soon, so please stay tuned. But let’s get back to the matter at hand which was the Retro Futura Tour, which made a stop in New York on August 21, 2014 at the Best Buy Theater. We were treated to sets by 1980s music titans Katrina and the Waves, China Crisis and Midge Ure before Howard Jones (and Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins – more on Tom coming soon) took the stage. Decked out in a fabulous orange suit, Howard played a bunch of his hits including “Everlasting Love,” “What Is Love?” “Like To Get To Know You Well,” “The Prisoner,” “New Song,” “Things Can Only Get Better” (and after he played the version we all know and love from the 80s, he played a dance version of it, which was thumpin!) as well as the video you are about to see “No One Is To Blame.” The set showed that Howard has so many other great songs that there was not time to play (read: come back soon Howard!) including “Look Mama,” “Life in One Day,” “You Know I Love You… Don’t You” and more recent songs such as “Tomorrow Is Now” and “Let The People Have Their Say.” If you get the chance to see the Retro Futura Tour, I recommend it as you’ll have many flashbacks to our beloved 80s and you’ll see how great these bands and their music have aged.

If you are a fan of Jeff Koons (and perhaps even if you are not a fan), you should really head over to the Whitney Museum in New York to check out their retrospective on the man who is one of the world’s most famous and also richest artists.

Gazing Ball

The comprehensive exhibit covers Koons’ earliest work up through present day with his Gazing Ball series.

Made In Heaven

The infamous X-rated “Made In Heaven” series, where Jeff Koons became a temporary porn star with his then wife Ciccolina, are also on display, and you get to see another side of Koons (pun intended), an artist who was not afraid to get naked for his art.

Equilibrium Series

The exhibit is organized by the various stages of Koons’ career and when you see the diversity and vast body of work, I think it might even change the opinion of the haters. Well, if you’re not a fan and you see the exhibit, tell us what you thought in the comments section.

Celebration series

As a person who likes to take my own photos for usage on this blog, I was thrilled that the Whitney loosened their no photos policy for this show, the last exhibit at their uptown Manhattan location before it moves down to Chelsea in 2015.

Popeye

This show will be traveling to Paris in 2014 and Spain in 2015 and I hope there will be some sort of documentary on how this priceless art is transported and hung. Though it may not be obvious from the photos, in real life, many of these works are absolutely gigantic.

Easyfun-Ethereal series

Personally, I love Jeff Koons’ work and to see so many familiar artworks as well as so many I’ve never gotten to see in person was really an incredible experience for me.

Hulk

And now, enjoy a few more pictures (which are only a tiny fraction of the over 150 works on display at the Whitney).

The New series

Celebration series

Inflatables series

Pre-New series

Split-Rocker

Luxury and Degradation

After the jump, see a few images that are not safe for closed minded people (NSFCMP).

If you choose not to go on, know that the Koons Retrospective is on display through October 19, 2014 at the Whitney Musuem, located at 945 Madison Avenue and 75th Street. Don’t miss it!Read more of this article »